If you thought a French film titled "My Afternoons with Margueritte" sounded like the stuff of George Costanza's dreams, you'd be wrong. Rather than "Rochelle, Rochelle"-style romping, this creaky, saccharine film is about old people reading. Really.

Gérard Depardieu, never more spherical, plays Germain, a barely literate but beloved resident of the sort of bucolic French village that has infuriated the rest of the world for centuries.

One day, while counting pigeons in the park (seriously!) he meets Margueritte (Gisèle Casadesus), a perky 96-year-old who starts reading Albert Camus to him out loud. It turns out Germain has a good memory for words, and his regurgitated existentialist wisdom earns him new respect from the fellow regulars at the local cafe. The only thing that could make this movie more French would be a guillotine.

Will Germain settle down with his relatively minute girlfriend? Will he be able to overcome the lifelong disapproval of his aging, bitter mother (and current neighbor)? Will his unlikely friendship with Margueritte make all the difference? These and many other questions are answered exactly as you'd suspect in a movie the likes of which the Nouvelle Vague was supposed to have disposed decades ago.